Monitoring on individual dose among radiation workers in medical institutions in Shanghai from 2015 to 2019

Objective To determine the individual dose level and changing trend in the occupational external exposure of radiation workers in Shanghai， and provide scientific evidence for health risk assessment for radiation workers.

Methods In the Occupational Health Management System for Radiation Workers of the National Health Commission-External Exposure Personal Monitoring and Management Subsystem， we retrieved the monitoring data of 38 077 external exposure individual dose of all medical radiation workers in Shanghai from 2015 to 2019. Using clustered sampling method， a total of 11 370 radiation workers in medical institutions （including tertiary， secondary， and primary hospitals） were selected in the study. Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS 22.0.

Results The collective annual effective dose of 11 370 radiation workers was determined to be 4.340 person Sv， including 2.270 man·mSv in diagnostic radiology， 1.112 man·mSv in interventional radiology， and <0.5 man·mSv in other categories. The average annual effective dose was 0.382 mSv， which was 0.482 mSv in nuclear medicine， 0.431 mSv in radiotherapy， and <0.5 mSv in other categories. Moreover， the average annual effective dose of 6 workers （0.05%） was higher than 5 mSv， whereas that of 10 453 workers （92%） were less than 1 mSv； in addition， the annual dose of 911 workers （8.0%） was between 1‒5 mSv. All workers had average annual effctive dose lower than 20 mSv. The annual effective dose differed significantly by years （F=161.1， P<0.01）， by occupational groups （F=13.5， P<0.01）， and by hospital levels （F=264.5， P<0.01）.

Conclusion The average annual effective dose of radiation workers in medical institutions in Shanghai is lower than the national standard limit， suggesting proper and adequate radiation protection system and measures in medical institutions.